Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I have had a lot of inquiries about the kind of knives Polyface uses and how to keep them sharp. The knives come from Victorinox (same company that makes Swiss Army knives) and we sharpen them by hand with sharpening stones.

Here is the link for Victorinox butchering knives. Below I have listed the knives we use and their purpose during broiler processing.

Butcher Knife (heavy stiff blade) --- Used for killing.

Skinning/Lamb Skinning knives --- Used for cutting up processed chickens into pieces and parts.

As for sharpening we just use a technique that Daniel has shown us. Any way will work and the internet is a great source for videos and articles explaining different techniques. I recommend getting a book or DVD or both and practicing. There is really no easy way that I know of.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Here is a picture of the triple york egg I had for breakfast back in like March. Just found the picture and wanted to share. Here on Polyface we have about 6000 laying hens and we eat the cracks. On this morning the egg I was going to eat was huge (more than 3oz) and when I broke it on the griddle I was pleasantly surprised.

David Schafer with Featherman Equipment Company sells poultry processing equipment and comes highly recommended by the Salatins. He came out to the farm and took pictures and video and then created these videos in order to help people learn how to process chickens. If you are ever in need of poultry processing equipment here is the company's contact information.

Featherman Equipment Co.

Jessica also asked, "Videos? I'd love to see them (The Pigs) moving about." Must be her lucky day. Here is a video I took back in the spring of a group of pigs immediately after I moved them into a new pasture. Notice the grazing.